Method and machine for use in making shoes



Dec. 12, 1939.

J. S.-KAM BORIAN 2,182,810 I METHOD AND MACHINE FOR USE IN MAKING SHOES Filed March 22, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 (1F FFigd Dec. 12, 1939. s KAMBQRIAN 2,182,810

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR USE I}! MAKING SHOES Filed March 22, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIII Patented Dec. 12, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics METHOD AND MACHINE FOR USE IN MAKING SHOES Jacob Simon Kamberian, Newton, Mass, as-

signor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 22,

19 Claims.

This invention'relates to methods and machines for use in lasting shoes.

Patent of the United States No. 584,744, granted June 15, 1897, upon application of Ladd and Mc- Feely.

In the use of this machine as usually construct- ;ed, the upper, in McKay work, is worked over the bottom of an insole upon a last and tacks are driven completelyin with their heads against the upper and their points clinched against the iron bottom on the last. In the making of shoes in tions have arisen to the presence of these tack heads for the reason that they occupy a considerable area of the overlasted portion of the upper which cannot, by reason of their presence, be

20 roughed and to which no cement bond can be obtained.v Moreover, even where the sole is to be attached by through-and-through stitches, some of the tacks are often so placed that their heads,

working a portion of an upper into lasted posi-' tion over an insole upon a last, presenting a tack in position to be driven to hold the upper in lasted position, removing one or both sides of the 40 tack head so as to form a head approximately semicircular in shape with one straight side or, alternatively, with two straight sides, forming a bar-shaped head, and driving the tack through the upper and clinching it upon the lastbottom. Preferably and as illustrated, opposite side portions of the tack head are removed and the lines along which the tack head is cut will, at the time the tack is driven, be parallel to that portion of the edge of the last bottom adjacent to which the tack is located.

So far as application of the invention to the manufacture of through-and-through sewed shoes is concerned, its object will be attained if only the outer side of the tack head is removed,

For the purpose of illustration the invention is disclosed as performed which the soles are attached by cement, objecl the seam being located, of course, between that v 1938, Serial No. 197,446

sid of the tack and the edge of the last bottom.

Such procedure is accordingly within the invention.

The machine illustrated for carrying out the method comprises a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over a last, a wiper and tack block acting to wipe the upper against the last bottom and present a tack in position to be driven to fasten the tensioned portion of the upper in lasted position, a driver for driving the tack, and means in the tack block whereby as the tack is driven the front and rear side portions of its head are removed. As illustrated, the tack block is provided with a transverse slotin which is located a pair of members, yieldingly held toward each other and capable of separation. Between the members a tack passage is formed the upper'part of which is funnel shaped and the lower part of'which is of a size to admit the stem only of a tack. Arranged on opposite sides of the narrow portion of the passage are blades or knives against which the head of the tack is forced by action of the driver. The driver is flattened so that its width equals or exceeds the diameter of the tack head and its thickness is less than or equals the diameter of the stem or shank of a tack. The driver engages the head of the tack and, acting upon the inclined sides of the'funnel-shaped part of the tack passage,- forces the members apart, thus widening the restricted part of the passage sufficiently to permit passage of the full diameter of the tack head while at the same timethe knives remove the front and rear portions of the tack head, leaving onlya bar substantially equal in width to the diameter of the tack stem but in length equaling the original diameter of the tack head.

Disposition of the cut-off portions of the tack heads is important and accordingly the invention comprises means for conducting the fragments of the tack heads away from the points where they are out off. The fragments fall upon inclined surfaces formed on the members containing the tack passage and the separation of these members by the driver serves to impel fragments along inclined surfaces which lead to downwardly inclined passages formed lengthwise of the tack block, and movement of the fragments along these passages is facilitated by the reciprocating movement of the tackblock.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a lasting machine embodying the present invention and showing in section a shoe being operated upon;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of a shoe lasted by practice of the present method;

Fig. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale of a tack of usual form;

Fig. 4 is a view of the tack of Fig. 3 after the side portions of its head have been removed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective View of the parts incorporated in the tack block and Wiper for removing the sides of the tack head;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of parts shown in Fig. 5 in their assembled condition; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view, partly broken away and in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 6.

The illustrated machine for practising my method of working a portion of an upper over a shoe bottom and securing it in lasted position by a tack the side portions of the head of which are removed, comprises, as shown in Fig. 1, a gripper I acting to seize a portion of an upper A assembled with an insole B upon a last C having an iron bottom D and to tension the upper heightwise of the last and carry it over the last bottom, the shoe being located by a sole rest 9 and an edge gage I I. A combined tack block and wiper I2, after receiving a tack from a raceway I4 delivered thereto by a tack separator I6, moves inwardly over the last bottom to lay the upper in lasted position and to present the tack in position to be driven by a driver I8, the above-mentioned parts being found in usual machines of this type such as that disclosed in the patent referred to above.

In accordance with my invention, however, the tack in the act of being driven into the shoe bottom is changed from the condition shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4 by having the two opposite sides of the tack head removed. The tack is driven'into the shoe, as illustrated in Fig. 2, with the remaining portion of its head parallel with the adjacent edge of the last bottom so that the tack heads, indicated by H, occupy a relatively small portion of the exposed area of the overlasted margin K of the upper and therefore interfere very little with the roughing of the upper in case the shoe sole is to be attached by cement and also cause the area of the cement bond to be increased because of the lessened area occupied by the heads. Moreover, since the elongated tack heads are arranged parallel to the edge of the last bottom, the operation of attaching the outsole with through-andthrough stitches is rendered easier and safer, it being relatively easy to sew the through-andthrough stitches through the insole, upper and outsole along a line outside of the lasting tacks without danger of the tack heads interfering with the needle or thread.

The apparatus provided for removing the sides of the tack head, as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and '7,

comprises the block I2 which is secured by a dowel pin 28 and screws 22 (Fig. l) to the usual passing through holes 24 in the block I2 (Fig. The forward end of the block I2 is provided with a transverse slot having a rear wall 28 and a front wall 38, the bottom of the groove being provided with a tack and driver passage 32. Located in the groove between the walls 28 and 30 is a pair of members 34, 3B which can slide in the groove 28, 38 transversely of the direction of movement of the block or wiper I2 and which are held toward each other by leaf springs 36, 40 each of which is secured to the side of the block I2 by a pin 42'and a screw 44. As illustrated, the plates forming the springs 38, 48 are slotted at 46 for more than half their length, the parts on the upper sides of the slots acting as the springs 38, 48, and the lower parts 48, 58 servin as the outer walls of inclined passages 52, 54 having openings on the under side of the tack block for a purpose to be explained.

In the meeting faces of the members 34, 36 is formed a tack and driver passage the upper portion 56 of which is funnel-shaped and the lower portion 58 of which is cylindrical and of a size, when the said meeting faces are in contact, to receive the stem of the tack, the passage 56, 58 being formed half in the member 34 and half in the member 36. A blade 68, preferably formed integrally with the member 36, extends laterally of the block I2 from the rear or right-hand edge of the cylindrical passage 58 and is coextensive heightwise with the passage. The under side of the blade 68 is beveled off to form a cutting edge 62 on its front corner. Similarly, the member 34 is provided with a blade 64 having a similar cutting edge 66 at its rear corner. The cutting edges 62, 66 are longer than the diameter of the head of any tack to be used, ancl'the inner ends of the blades 60, 64 are provided with fiat surfaces 68, ID on their upper edges, the surface it! being adapted to slide under the lower face of a forward projection I2 on the member 36 and the surface 88 being adapted to slide under a similar rearward projection on the member 34. The construction thus permits the opposed faces of the members 34, 36 to come together and the cutting edges 62, 66 to be spaced from each other a distance equal to the diameter of the passage 58, that is, substantially the diameter of the tack stem at its largest par.

To insure that the meeting faces of the members 34, 36, and hence the tack passage 56, 56 between them, shall be centrally located with respect to the block I2 even if the pressure of the springs 38, 48 were not the same, a stop lug 74 is formed on the upper front corner of the member 34 and is urged by the spring 38 to engage a stop face 16 on the block I2. Similarly, a stop lug I8 is formed on the upper rear corner of the member 36 to engage a stop face 80 on the block I2.

After the members 34, 36 are assembled between the walls 28, 38 of the transverse slot in the front end of the block I2, a cover plate 82 is laid over them and secured by screws 84 passing through cars 85 on the plate entering threaded holes 86 in the block I2, and the plates 48, 50 are applied to the two sides of the block I2 and secured thereto by the screws 44 which pass through holes 88 in the plates and enter threaded holes 90 in the block I2. The plate 82 has an opening 92 to permit tacks to be fed to the passage 58, 58 and, after a tack is fed and the block I2 moved forward over the shoe, the driver I8 is positioned over the opening 92 in the passage 56, 58. The driver (Fig. 5), or at least its lower portion, is so flattened that its width is substantially equal to the diameter of the tack head and its thickness substantially equal to the diameter of the tack stem, that is, to the space between the cutting blades 60, 64. When a tack such as A (Fig. 3) is fed into the funnel-shaped passage 56 its head will be arrested at a point where the diameter of the passage 56 is equal to the diameter of the tack head and held there until the driver descends. Upon descent of the driver it will engage the inclined walls of the passage 56, causing the members 34, 36 to separate and the tack head will be forced down until its head rests on the cutting edges 62, 5t, whereupon further movement of the driver will sever the two sides of the tack head, producing the tack B (Fig. 4) and force the remainder of the tack head down between the blades 60, 64 and through the opening 32 in the bottom of the block I2 into the shoe located beneath it.

The front portion oi the tack head severed by the blade 64 will fall upon a ledge 94 on the member 34 which is inclined toward the lefthand side of the block l2 and can pass under a laterally overhanging portion of the member 36 to the passage 54 closed on its outer side by the plate 5?] and leading to an opening on the under side of the block l2. Likewise therear portion of the tack head severed by the blade 60 will fall on a ledge similar to the ledge 94 formed on the member 36 and will pass under an overhanging portion of the member 34 to the passage 52 formed in the right-hand side of the block [2 and leading to a hole 96 in the side of the block [2. Since, as shown in Fig. l, the edge gage H is located under the openings 96, the side portions of the edge gage are beveled off at N10 to facilitate the passage of the fragments of the tack heads through the holes 96. 1

When the machine is in operation, the repeat: ed opening and closing movements of the members 34, 36 will cause the portions of the tack heads severed by the blade 64 to move along the inclined ledge 94 toward the passage 54 and, similarly, the parts of the heads severed by the blade 62 will pass along the similar inclined ledge (not shown) on the member 36 toward the passage 52. The repeated reciprocating movements of the block [2 will cause the severed tack heads to move along the inclined passages 52 and 54 until they fall through the holes 96 one of which is located on each side of the lower face of the block l2,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of inserting tacks which consists in presenting a tack in position to be driven into a work-piece, removing part of the tack head so as to form a head having at least one straight side, and driving the tack.

2. That improvement in methods of inserting tacks which consists in presenting a tack in position to be driven into a work-piece, driving the tack, and simultaneously removing part of the tack head in such a manner as to form a head having one straight side.

3. That improvement in methods of inserting tacks which consists in presenting a tack in position to be driven into a work-piece, driving the tack, and, in the act of driving, cutting oiT one side of the tack head close to the stem of the tack so that the length of the out side is substantially equal to the diameter of the tack head.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in presenting a tack over a shoe in position to be driven to secure the shoe parts together, removing a portion of the tack head, and inserting a tack into the shoe with the severed side of the tack head in predetermined relation to the edge of a shoe part.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in presenting a tack in position to be driven to hold the shoe parts together, removing opposite sides of the tack head, and inserting a tack through the shoe parts with the longest dimension of the remainder of the head parallel to one of the parts.

6. That improvement in methods of lasting shoes which consists, in wiping a portion of an upper into lasted position over an insole upon a last, presenting atack in position to be driven to hold said portion of the upper in lasted position, removing a segment of the tack head along a straight line, and driving the tack.

'7. That improvement in methods of lasting shoes which consists in wiping a portion of an upper over an insole upon a last, presenting a tack over the lasted portion in position to be driven, removing a portion of the tack head, and inserting the tack through the upper and insole with the severe-d side of the tack head parallel to the edge of the last bottom.

8. That improvement in methods of lasting shoes which consists in working a portionof an upper into lasted'position over an'insole upon a last, presenting a tack in position to be driven to hold the upper in lasted position, removing opposite sides of the tack head, and inserting the tack through the upper and insole with the longest dimension of the remainder of the head parallel to the edge of the last.

9. That improvement in methods of lasting shoes which consists in working successive portions of an upper into lasted position over an insole upon a last, presenting a tack in position to be driven to hold each portion of the upper in lasted position, drivingthe tack, and, in the act of driving the tack, removing opposite side portions of the tack head so as to form a head having straight sides.

10. That improvement in methods of lasting shoes which consists in working successive portions of an upper into lasted position over an instraight knife acting as the tack is driven to remove material from the tack head along a straight line.

12. In a shoe machine, a tackholder, means for feeding tacks to the tack holder, a driver for driving a tack through the tack holder, and straight knives on opposite sides of the tack stem to remove material along straight lines from opposite sides of the tack head as the tack is driven.

13. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over an insole upon a last, a Wiper movable to lay the upper against the last bottom, a tack holder in the wiper, means for feeding tacks to the tack holder, a driver for driving a tack through the tack holder to secure the upper in lasted position, and blades on opposite sides of the tack stem acting as the tack is driven to remove material from opposite sides of the tack head, said blades being so arranged as to form a bar-shaped tack head.

14. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over an insole upon a last, a tack block, a wiper movable to lay the upper against the last bottom, a tack holder in the tack block, said holder comprising a pair of members having a funnel-shaped passage between them formed half in each member, means for feeding tacks to the funnel-shaped passage, the head of the tack being arrested and supported by the inclined walls of the passage, a pair of blades arforcing a tack through the restricted part of the passage and between the blades to cause opposite sides of the tack head to be removed and to insert the tack through the upper and insole.

15. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over an insole upon a last, a tack block, a wiper movable to lay the upper against the last bottom, a tack holder in the tack block, said holder comprising a pair of members having a funnel-shaped passage between them formed half in each member, means for feeding tacks to the funnel-shaped passage, the head of the tack being arrested and supported by the inclined walls of the passage, a pair of blades one connected to each of the members and arranged on opposite sides of the narrowest part of the passage, springs for holding the members toward each other, and means for forcing a tack through the restricted part of the passage and between the blades to ,cause opposite sides of the tack head to be removed and to insert the tack through the upper and insole.

16. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over an insole upon a last, a reciprocating wiper acting to lay the upper against the last bottom, a tack holder in the wiper, means for feeding tacks to the tack holder, a driver for driving a tack through the tack holder to secure the upper in lasted position, blades on opposite sides of the tack holder acting as the tack is driven to remove material from opposite sides of the tack head, and inclined passages in the wiper leading from the blades to the lower side of the wiper whereby the removed portions of lathe tack head are caused to move along the passages by reciprocating movement of the wiper.

17. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over an insole upon a last, a tack block movable to lay the upper against the last bottom, members mounted in the block for separating movement transversely of the direction of movement of the block, said members having a funnel-shaped passage formed half in each member, means for feeding tacks to the funnelshaped passage, a pair of blades arranged on opposite sides of the passage and spaced apart the thickness of the tack stem, springs for holding the members toward each other, a driver acting to force a tack through the opening between the blades to cause opposite sides of the tack head to be severed, and inclined surfaces on the members upon which severed portions of the tack head fall and along which they are transported by motion imparted to the members by the driver.

18. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over an insole upon a last, a reciprocating wiper acting to lay the upper against the shoe bottom, a tack holder in the wiper, means for feeding tacks to the tack holder, a driver for driving a tack through the tack holder to secure the upper in lasted position, blades on opposite sides of the tack holder acting as the tack is driven to remove material from opposite sides of the tack head, and inclined passages in the Wiper leading from the blades to the end of the wiper whereby the removed portions of the tack head are caused to move along the passages by movement of the wiper over the shoe bottom.

19. In a lasting machine of the progressive type, a gripper for working successive portions of an upper over an insole upon a last, a tack block movable to lay the upper against the last bottom, members mounted in the block for separating movement transversely of the direction of movement of the block, said members having a funnel-shaped passage formed half in each member, means for feeding tacks to the funnel-shaped passage, a pair of blades arranged on opposite sides of the passage and spaced apart the thickness of the tack stem, springs for holding the members toward each other, a driver acting to separate the members and to force a tack through the opening between the blades to cause oppou site sides of the tack head to be severed, and inclined surfaces on the members upon which sevcred portions of the tack head fall and along which they are transported by separative movement imparted to the members by the driver.

JACOB SIMON KAMBORIAN. 

